Chapter 27: For Unto Them a Child is Born! The Humble Prince of Peace!

"What a pitiful puppeteer! Can't even make his own, but has to steal the marionette of a master, tsk tsk. Bellamy." Doflamingo snapped his fingers in a long-unused command to heel, never allowing his eyes to stray away from the reeling 'mastermind' behind this mess. "What a shame, what a shame. And you had such a nice little theme going here. But here's a tip, honey, from me to you: You can dress him up in your puppet's clothes, but underneath your Hatter is still a Hyena."

The motion was automatic, as he had been trained so long ago, said hyena dropped both of his prisoners to scramble to his master's side. He even sat like a dog, legs curled under him and fists on the ground, head bowed so that the back of his neck was bare should the original puppetmaster care to grab it.

Luffy took the opportunity to buck, throwing the Jabberwocky from him with a backbend that turned into a walkover to get back onto his feet. He wiped his cheek with the back of his arm, and grunted, "Mingo."

"Strawhat," Don greeted just as shortly.

As a reward for his hyena, he brushed the back of the younger man's neck. He even ran his fingertips through the short blond hair, noting with irritation that there were mats and oil. All his toys were impressed with the importance of proper grooming; only the severe degeneration of his faculties would have allowed him to slip up in something so basic.

"I got word someone had been pulling strings that weren't his, and twisting my toy up in knots. Bad showmanship, very poor performance." He turned his head as though looking over the ruins of the battlefield, though in truth his eyes never left the bastard that dared touch his property and abuse it without his permission. "Very poorly put together, too. Shoddy background characters, terrible casting choice, and you couldn't even keep the company together. How could I let such a travesty of a show go on?"

Blueno wasted no time in answering the former shichibukai. He merely launched himself out of the rubble, eyes mad and intent on killing anyone who got in the way.

And someone got in the way alright.

Bellamy's hindbrain, the one that had the Rules embedded into his very soul, kicked into action. A Haki-infused spring launch pre-empted Luffy and Don's defenses, tackling the door-man around the waist with a sickening crunch. They rolled, end over end down towards the beach with the others hot on their trail. Someone was bleeding, badly from the looks of the stains, and by the time the grass and rocks gave way to sand, the hyena was pulverizing the Jabberwocky.

His fists flew, and life fluid flew with them. Blueno was clawing at him, trying to get a hit in between swings but the bouncy nature of his punches meant that the best the brunet could do was shigan through the tiny openings around his arms. Even that slowly tapered off as Don landed on the beach. At the point that it became painfully obvious… Bellamy was beating a corpse.

Throughout his assault though, the broken toy kept growling the same phrase. Over and over. "Rule number one. Rule number one."

Doflamingo let him pummel the corpse for an almost sickening amount of time. Actually he counted, just letting him turn what had once been an enemy into hamburger for almost three minutes before calling, "Bellamy. Enough. He's had his last curtain call."

He snapped his fingers again in case the words didn't get through, which in this case they might not. He'd used a very specific set of trigger words and phrases to set his attack dog on the unrecognizable lump of flesh on the ground now; ones that were burned so deeply it went past words and conscious thought. Nobody broke Rule One and got away with it. Nobody.

Strangely though, Bellamy didn't come. He stopped, blinking and staring into the distance, and slowly his head turned towards his master. It fell back, the fading sunlight illuminating his face. His right eye had been punctured at some point; the ooze pulsed down his cheek. His smile was vacant and faded, with cracked lips and pale—too pale—skin under the dirt and grime. He tried to come, slumping off of the mess he'd made, but he couldn't seem to coil right, his legs weren't supporting him.

"Do-ffffl-ngo-s'ma..." He slurred just before he fell over.

"Shit." Doflamingo abandoned his composure, leaping to catch his subordinate.

Bellamy was still his, and still so loyal so many years later. He knelt down in the gory battlefield so Bellamy's head could rest in his lap. Like back when he'd still been a teenager, looking so desperately for comfort and not caring what training he had to put up with to get it.

"There, there puppy, shhh. It's alright. You did good," he told him softly, his voice proud and gentle as he started stroking his hair, ignoring the blood and ocular fluid that smeared on his palm. "It's okay. You did really, really good for me, Bellamy. You made me proud."

The younger blond was crying but he didn't seem to notice. His body was limp; he couldn't even bring up the energy to nuzzle into the petting, though it was clear he was attention starved. How long had he been without praise and affection? Judging by the fractured state of his mind before Don had made himself known it was likely that he hadn't had any for nearly a year. Or more, depending on how long the Jabberwocky had been planning everything.

Luffy shuffled his feet, frowning and clutching his hat in his hands. Some of the Okama medics were seeing to Dragon and Coby up on the hill. Smoker had appeared, bloody and worn, to examine Blueno's remains. And a thick hand gripped the Pirate King's shoulder for a moment, before the person stepped up to the two blonds.

"I don't have the reserve to do it again, Don. The green haired brat took most of it, and the rest went to staunching the other victims." The voice was rough, like sandpaper over velvet, and sad, as Crocodile stepped forward.

The puppetmaster swallowed thickly. "...I know." He took one really deep breath, a steadying sigh, and bent down so he could kiss Bellamy's bloody forehead. "I'm sorry, Bellamy, that I wasn't here sooner. And I'm sorry… that you had to be so alone. But you're not alone, now, I'm here. So you can relax, Bel. It's okay. I love you, and I won't be disappointed. You deserve to have a little rest after doing so good for me. It's okay. I'm with you."

Bellamy closed his good eye, his features smoothing out into peacefulness, and he tried to lift an arm so he could hold his master. But the limb wouldn't respond. His shoulder moved, but the rest was made of lead, a few ridges of spring appearing in the skin without ever fully forming. Then he smiled, inhaling as deep as he could, "Pa... pa..."

And relaxed.

Like the sigh of breath at the end of a long, long, day, his presence flickered, then faded, and finally winked out. Too hard, too long, too much. The hyena's body just couldn't take it.

Silence seemed to fall around the battlefield for the moment. Most looked away, those that were close enough made signs to their gods for the easing of passage from this world to the next, and Luffy put his hat back on his head with the brim down low to cover his tears. Friend or foe, Bellamy hadn't deserved that kind of treatment, and his actions to remove the Jabberwocky placed him firmly back in the 'friend' category as far as the Pirate King went.

It took a few minutes before Doflamingo straightened up, and even then, he didn't rise, remaining on his knees and still stroking Bellamy's hair. And if his glasses couldn't contain the overflow of his very real emotional attachment to his hyena, who was there to mock what came dripping down his chin to wash the poor boy's face clean? His mouth was twisted into a twitchy, wobbly line, and he rocked a little bit when his chest heaved softly, though he made no sound.

Crocodile would grill his lover later for having been gone so long, but for now, he merely dissolved around him, giving him the privacy for his very real grief. At least for a little while.

A marine captain broke onto the scene with a sharp salute and a click of her heels, "Admiral Smoker sir. Sorry to disturb you, Sir. It seems we have the Jabberwocky's associates in custody, Sir. All Cards shuffled and accounted for. Vice Admiral Tashigi sent me to collect you and Strawhat, Sir. As highest ranking officer still conscious we need your decision on how to proceed. Sir."

He rubbed the back of his neck, sighing softly and lighting up two cigars to try and settle his emotions. "First priority is the injured. Ivankov's got full access ta any Marine medic he needs. Have th' ones that c'n be moved escorted off th' island ta th' nearest hospital base ASAP." An exhale of smoke covered his shudder, "Deal with th' zombies. Hogback's famous fer that shit. And package th' rest fer interrogation. At least some of 'em were drugged or coerced inta this."

His eyes drifted over to Doflamingo and Crocodile, and he took three deep inhales before he continued.

"Other than Blueno's lackies no pirate 'ere is under our jurisdiction. Who we've got in custody we gotta turn over ta Strawhat and th' other pirates ta punish as they see fit. Once everyone's sorted, load 'em up and ship 'em out. Prison's still fuckin' good for somethin'. Once th' criminals are shipped out, then we pack up an' leave."

"Sir, yes, Sir!" She clicked her heels again, and marched off, ponytail-mohawk streaming behind her as she barked orders at her subordinates as soon as they were in range.

When similar folks came up to Luffy as he was looking for the rest of his Nakama, the only order he gave was to salt them. If they were zombies, their shadows would go back to their original owners, if they weren't... well, a mouthful of salt would serve most of them right as punishment, as far as the Pirate King thought.

"That's NOT where that goes, Baka-burg!" Franky, at the moment just a head in his fiancé's lap, shouted at his foster brother.

Iceburg threatened him with a wrench, and growled, "Then YOU do it, Baka-anky! I don't handle mechanics like this usually!"

"All the more reason to leave it to Kidd-boy! Heehaw!" Ivankov posed almost as extravagantly as their cyborg patient.

"I can't make heads or tails of what the fuck the metal's tellin' me, man, I swear to you," Kidd replied grumpily where he was attempting to make his arm re-attach to his shoulder through sheer force. "It's really too organic for me to make as much sense out of it as if it was all metal, you didn't exactly go easy on the augmentations!"

"Try being blown up twi—" A hand sprouted across his mouth.

Robin smiled down at them all. She was perched on a larger hand, serving as a chair so that Franky had the right vantage point to see what they were doing. "Has there been any word on your partner, Kidd-san? It seems between the two of you, this should be easier."

Kidd flinched, looking over to the medical-bay area set up by Ivankov. "He still hasn't woken up."

"What about Mini-Ace's first mate?!" Luffy broke into the conversation, gathering all of their attention.

Kidd stared at him. "How the fuck do you—nevermind. Never mind. We... don't know yet," he admitted slowly. "There's nobody that specializes in that kind of medicine with us, and as long as Law's still unconscious..."

"Mm." Where the drumstick of roasted bird came from nobody wanted to know, "as soon as Chopper's done with Zoro, I'm sure Traffy's the next one on his list."

This was said with the most nonchalant of expressions as the Pirate King wandered off seemingly without a care in the world. Like his wife hadn't just been kidnapped for months, his allies attacked relentlessly, and his first mate wasn't kissing death's door thanks to a spring through his liver. Though really, looking at it from Luffy's point of view, the hard stuff was over. Now all that needed to happen was everybody to get a good chunk of their favorite foodstuffs and they'd be all better again. Because that was how it worked, right?

Kidd just sighed and went back to work on his arm. They had Chopper and the fighting was done now. All that did really remain was to heal and recover from the horrors this battle had caused. Some, Kidd suspected as he glanced over at the sand cloud still hiding the bird man, would take much longer than others.

Luffy meandered further into the medic area. He was calm, one could even say peaceful. He carried himself with a familiar sort of ease that had several of the older generation actually relaxing unconsciously. Though the carefree grin still hung about his lips, there was a maturity about him that came only from being a veteran of now three wars.

He snickered at Lucci and his companions. Kaku was sitting on the large cat, though it seemed the Adrenaline Shot had worn off as not even his tail was twitching, and Luffy was sure it would have been if the leopard could have managed it. Judging by the combined aura of disapproval coming from Kalifa, in the next bed, and Kaku, Luffy figured it was wiser for him to skirt around Jyabura's snoring form rather than risk getting caught in one of Kaku's signature "don't try to do too much" speeches.

And anyway, the Pirate King wanted to give them the space they needed to mourn the loss of Blueno. From nine to four in less than two decades was a steep price, no matter how they had fallen. Luffy didn't want to find out what losing a Nakama like that was like; so he moved on.

Meeting eyes with Inazuma's sunglasses, the Okama second in command nodded, "Thus far Chopper-san has been successful at stabilizing our wounded. Lord Dragon rests easily in the tent beyond, your brothers and Shanks-san are keeping watch. I am certain Sabo-san or Jinbe-san will find you the moment your father wakes.

"Admiral Coby is with his paramour aboard his flagship as both merely suffered a combination of Haki-burnout and minor contusions." The non-binary pirate sipped their wine with a small smile. "It appears Admiral Helmeppo has a unique ability to project his Busoshoku Haki onto his partner.

"Of the others, Trafalgar-san is sleeping. His system was overtaxed by the forced activation of his powers. The baby is fine."

Luffy grinned, "Wait 'til Stacy finds out!"

He almost took off back the way he'd come to give Kid the good news, but a hand on his shoulder stopped him.

"Luffy-san. About your first mate… Have you located your cook yet?"

Across the island from the Pirate King, Smoker found himself roped into dealing with the Amazons and the handling of Absalom and Sarkies. He drew his thumb and forefinger over his sinuses to pinch the bridge of his nose with a frustrated exhale of cigar smoke around his signature stogies.

"Hogback has been wanted by th' Marines fer years fer creatin' zombies."

"The laws established under the old World Government no longer apply." Boa Hancock, Empress of Amazon Lily and appointed Pirate Warden of Impel Down, refused to back down. "For the crimes the foul surgeon committed under the influence of Bluenose—"

"Blueno, Hebi-hime-sama."

"Whatever!" She huffed at the Amazon who corrected her, and affected her signature pose, looking down on the admiral so far she was bent in half backwards, "The quack doctor is a Pirate and therefore under Luffy-sama's dominion to punish! Now hand him over, Marine!"

"Posture all ya like, Hancock, Hogback has ta answer fer crimes against humanity. An' that's a Marine offense." It didn't seem possible, and yet apparently Smoker was just as stubborn as the Amazon empress.

They scowled at each other, both refusing to back down or reach any kind of compromise. Boa dismissed her shock at finding another man who was immune to her feminine wiles, and Smoker had to keep from thinking back to the last stubborn bratty brunet who'd stood up to him. He'd seen to it that the white-haired Marine saw more paperwork than any other in his division. It was hard on both parts.

Off to the side Sarkies looked nervously at Absalom, but the cat-man merely huffed. Of course, he really couldn't be blamed, considering his position. As a 'reward' for having refused to cooperate with Sanji earlier, the Strawhat chef had ensured Absalom would never get the chance to run away from a fight ever again. He was seated on a wheeled chair, both legs in casts, and some kind of brace around his lower back. His zombie parts also had burns around the edges. So, Bellamy's first mate couldn't really judge the other's surly attitude much.

He sighed, eyes scanning the rest of the situation, barely aware of the Marine and the Amazon still arguing over Hogback's fate. One blessing he counted was that the insane doctor was unconscious after having been smacked with both Hancock's Haki-reinforced heel, and Smoker's heavy, seastone jute at the same time. Most of the Cards were being marched in a line onto the Kuja Pirates' ship, all in heavy chains, and Sarkies shook his head at them. A good number had been zombies created by Hogback, but some, roughly fifty, had been actual people, lured in by Blueno's silver-tongue, or manipulated, as Bellamy had been, into serving for a cause they actually didn't understand.

For himself, Sarkies accepted his fate. He'd stood behind his captain until it became obvious that the whole plan was unhinged and there was no way they were going to win. At that point, he'd tried to cut his losses, only to end up right smack in the middle of things. He was still reeling from whatever it was that Coby had done to his head, making him unsteady on his feet. Regardless though, with his captain gone, the pale blue-haired man was willing to pay his dues for having cast his lot with the Jabberwocky.

Movement next to the arguing man and woman caught his attention as the Okama King and the glasses girl who always followed Smoker around stepped between them.

"Heehaw! Now listen, Hebi-girl, there's something here you're both forgetting." Iva chastised with an out of place grin.

Smoker glared at Tashigi, who adjusted her glasses, "Taicho, Ivankov-sama is correct. In times of dispute of jurisdiction regarding the accused crimes, the imprisonment and sentence are to be handled by the neutral, unaffected, third party. In this case, the Parliament of the Revolution. Dr. Hogback, and his associates, for crimes committed while under the direction of one Blueno the Jabberwocky, are to be remanded to the Penitentiary on the Hill for the rest of their natural lives.

"Further," the Vice-Admiral continued, "in the event of Absalom the Red Knight's death, his Devil Fruit is to be detained upon recovery in the Vault of Forbidden Fruit below Impel Down."

"Now wait just a minute! What's my fruit got to do with anything!?" The cat-man finally was paying attention to what was going on.

Ivankov leaned into his face and grinned, "Because, perv-boy, you used it to spy on the Pirate Queen and fed lies to the Pirate King to trick him into thinking she had been unfaithful."

"WHAT?! HOW COULD YOU POSSIBLY KNOW ABOUT THAT!?"

Sarkies hung his head and groaned as the collected impromptu tribunal smiled with an air of satisfied smugness. Absalom looked around, fervently shaking his head, but it was too late. He'd hung himself with his outburst and everyone around them knew it.

Hancock tossed her head, and pointed. Two Amazons hauled the cat-man up by his arms out of his chair and carried him protesting and screaming to the ship. Her voice followed him, "Be happy, worm, that I am more gracious than Luffy-sama. Perhaps you'll make the journey to Ryuunosu safely."

With that the rest of them bundled up Sarkies and Hogback and the Amazons departed.

Tashigi looked between Iva and her Admiral, confusion wrinkling her brow over her glasses. "The argument was staged then? To get a confession?"

The Okama King only laughed and moved off to locate his wayward step-son without so much as another word. So the swordswoman turned to Smoker, but all she received was a grumble accompanied by a plume of his namesake, no other answer. Which made her huff and scowl.

There was a marked heaviness surrounding the Pirate King and his crew when Iva made it back to the medics. Brook was playing a soft background piece on his violin, mostly to keep his hands busy as they gathered around the tent where Zoro lay. The sharpshooter wasn't around, but judging by the way Chopper kept pacing between Luffy and the tent's opening, it seemed likely that Usopp had gone to try and find the missing two members of their crew. The same sort of nervous energy came out in Franky's collaboration with Kidd, Robin, Killer, and Iceburg. All they could do was wait for the cook to show up, and it worried Iva that his favorite candy-boy wasn't there.

Especially with how dim the swordsman's aura was.

He laid a hand on Luffy's shoulder in solidarity, but didn't stick around. This was a private moment between crew and captain. If Zoro lost his life, they would need each other most, and if he didn't, they would still prefer to be alone with their Nakama. So, the flamboyant Okama headed to his own partner's tent. At the very least he could keep certain nosey brothers out of the way.

It didn't seem to take long after Iva left for Usopp to return. He skidded down the beach near Franky and the mechanics, out of breath and pointing wildly behind him. He tried four times to wheeze out his message with increasingly frustrated noises when they mostly just sat there staring at him confused.

The halfway reassembled cyborg threw a wrench at him, "Sopp-bro, chillax a little. What's up?"

Kidd caught the tool before it could land, but the sniper ducked anyway, which gave him the clarity of mind to focus. "Kaya! Nami! Chopper! Where's Chopper?!"

"When last I saw him, he was attending to Zoro, Usopp."

Robin was exhausted. That was the only explanation she could come up with for not understanding why the long-nosed man's hands flew to his hair as he ran off for the rest of the Strawhats. She exchanged a look with her husband-to-be. There was a beat where they both blinked. Then at once, they gasped.

"Oh!"

"CHOPPER!" Usopp finally had the coherency to call for the little reindeer.

Several other medics and patients glared at the panicked sniper, but he paid them no mind, snatching up the tiny doctor as soon as his eyes landed on the well-worn pink top hat.

"AHH! USOPP! PUT ME DOWN!" He screamed, hooves gripping said hat; he had hardly had a moment's rest since returning from Skypeia.

The sharpshooter just held him tighter, already making his way back through the tents. "Nami! Kaya! Baby! Kaya's pregnant!"

"WHAT?!"

"BABY!"

"WHAT BABY?!" Chopper was so confused he was nearly in tears.

Breezing past Luffy, the shouted conversation had his head snapping up. He'd known she was in labor, there was no way she could have hidden it from his Haki, but there was something infectious about Usopp's panic. He took off after the other two with a whoop of excitement, which only served to earn him a disembodied hand pulling on his cheek.

"Captain. Where do you think you're going?" Robin's lips asked from his shoulder.

"Nami's having Mini-Ace! I should be there!" He tripped over her hands trying to catch his ankles.

"Ignoring that you haven't spoken with her for most of the year… Luffy… your place is with Zoro."

"He's fine. He's sleeping."

But even so Luffy stilled, climbing to his feet slowly. His mind drifted back to what Tashigi had told him before the marines set sail, and a shudder ran down his spine, a hand coming up to touch the X-shaped scar on his chest. Zoro was bigger than Ace had been. So Tashigi didn't have any marks from him saving her life like that, but Luffy could still see it plain as day in the wound that burst through his first mate's chest. Sun-shaped. Just as Ace's had been.

Though it wasn't as big in the front as it was in the back, and the worst of the damage was blood loss and muscles. Chopper had said he was extremely lucky that Bellamy had missed both his spine and his lungs. There had been a knick to an artery, but not the one that the doctor had been terrified of needing to repair. He'd said something about if that one had been cut they wouldn't have been able to save him no matter what. Even as it was though...

Luffy shuffled his feet, his hat down. He knew Robin was right, of course, but he had hoped he could get Nami and bring her back and that would make Zoro wake up because if anyone could get Zoro to do something he didn't want to do it was Nami. But that was farfetched logic, and everyone knew it.

So he stood there, just far enough away to be halfway between Robin and Zoro. After a short while Brook came up to him, laying a bony hand on his shoulder in solidarity, and tucked his violin up to his chin to play as he had been since they won. This time the music was soft, the type to pass the time without interfering with anyone's thoughts, and though Kidd and Iceburg continued to work on assembling Franky's pieces by the light of a torch, the cyborg himself leaned on his fiancé to watch the moon rise over the waves.

A cry went up just as the light silvered the surf. Proud and strong. And very, very angry at how cold the world was. It silenced the beach like a beacon, and a grin broke out across Luffy's face. He jumped into the air and threw his hat. He didn't notice the confusion or congratulations rumbling from around him as he made a beeline for his Nakama's bedside.

"Zoro! Zoro, you gotta wake up! She did it! He's here! My Ace! And he's strong too! C'mon, you just gotta wake up!"

But the swordsman didn't respond.